The Edifice
by Alexandra Y. Jones
Summary: After the savagery of World war 70, one man by the name of Sesshoumaru Taisho revives the world, renamiing and rebuilding Tokyo as Apaxipolis. This grand city is home to millions of people who are content, but after a supposed suicide, his brother Inuyash
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own Inuyasha or any of the character, but the plot is pretty much mine. It has some inspiration from my favorite book 1984, but the plot is completely original, so yeah. Have fun guys.

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"**The Edifice"**

**By: Alexander Y. Jones**

**Apaxipolis Introduced – How it Began**

**(Prologue)**

In the year 4987, the world shook and shuddered under the full force of World War Seventy. Families were torn apart and corruption, pain, horror, and chaos spread across the world in an alarming speed. Crime happened before the very eyes of children, and was sometimes committed by children themselves. What lead to the disastrous WW70 were: sects, racism, sexism, religious intolerance, and many other intolerances became dominant in the world, before this time. In order to accommodate for the separation of the people, new languages formed, from these, guerrilla war forces were created to protect the members. But it was not the religious intolerance that started the fire to WW70, nor were they sexism, sects, and racism. No, those were not the factors that created the huge combustion of WW70. It was actually two new forms of intolerances called vilthairism and Demokarism that created the chaos that potentially destroyed the world and brought it down to its knees in 4987.

Vilthairisim was the intolerance of different hair colors. Blondes hated redheads, who hated black-haired people, who hated white haired people, and so on. From these larger groups, racism took its toll. For example, people with black hair were separated into four groups, African Americans, Asians, Native Americans, and Caucasians. Because of the difference in race, people with black hair could not cohere. One may have thought that the redheads and the Blondes were safe from the ordeal, but they were separated by religion or by gender. Demokarisim, unlike vilthairism, actually existed long before even WW1. However, it's existence was not discovered until 4800, when youkai and hanyou came out into public. And so, due to the lack of cooperation amongst the different hair-color groups and genetic differences, the war began.

WW70 was different from that of WW69 and the other world wars that came before it. WW70 lasted for one-hundred years, non-stop. It was also during this time where new leaders rose to power for a couple of years, some a couple of days only to find themselves assassinated or murdered. Nuclear Bombs shook the earth along with Star Wars, the Atomic bombs, IBM, and a new form of explosives called Elektromagnetiks, the deadliest of them all. Elektromagnetiks was first discovered by a youkai scientist named Sesshoumaru Taisho. Unlike the Nuclear Bombs, Star Wars, and IBM, it was found on accident. It used any form of electricity to destroy the opponent, silently and soundlessly. Unlike nukes and IBM's, which had Star Wars as a defense mechanism, Elektromagnetiks did not have any form of defense mechanisms. There was no stopping of it, and eventually, it was Elektromagnetiks and its founder, Sesshoumaru that brought an end to WW70 in 5087.

By the time Sesshoumaru stepped into the warring world (to stop it), Elektromagnetiks had already decimated all the cities of the world with the help of other weapons. And it would have continued to do so if Sesshoumaru hadn't taken it and hidden it into the depths of a centuries-old building that had been his hiding place during the war. As the story goes, Sesshoumaru eventually figured out the hazards of Elektromagnetiks and was ready to quietly back away with it. Unfortunately, when he figured the problem out, leaders of the different races, hair color, religions, and whatnot were nowhere near stopping. He was needed to continue with Elektromagnetiks, and before long, _he_ became the whole point of WW70. Therefore, Sesshoumaru had hidden himself into an underground bunker hidden beneath an insignificant house that was built in the 1930s the year Hitler and the Nazis rose to power.

When Sesshoumaru went into hiding, he took Elektromagnetiks and the secrets to the equations and formulas with him as well as his assistant, Kagura Yomoko. As he hid for fifty years, the different nations were in search for him, They were desperate to find him, but could not. They could have easily found him if they knew the secret behind Elektromagnetiks or if they had it with them, but no; they did not know how to create Elektromagnetiks and the formula was too hard to use. The different nations were wiped out when the people of the Peace Corps appeared and slaughtered them in 5086. From there, the Peace Corps took over. But they were no longer the Peace Corps when a new trouble surfaced before them: who was supposed to be the ruling class? Luckily, after fifty years in hiding, Sesshoumaru reappeared, and all of the Peace Corps agreed that Sesshoumaru was to be the leader and the creator of the ruling class. He was to choose the ruling class. And because he was youkai, he chose for the youkai to sit at the top.

But in order to avoid the dregs of war, he made a law that all creature, human, hanyou, or youkai, no matter what hair color, gender, race, or relgion were to be treated equally. It was a form of communism, no, more like socialism. But this time, unlike the years before, socialism and Marxism finally succeeded. Sesshoumaru was highly intelligent, yet kind. It had been said that he had a sixth sense and could read other people's minds. The rumor spread throughout the world like wild fire, and this was what enabled Sesshoumaru to keep the people at bay. The world began to flourish, starting from Sesshoumaru's hiding place in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo was renamed as Apaxipolis, meaning City of Peace, and continued to spread. People who grew tired of war hungrily accepted the peace that he had offered along with his new wife, who happened to be his assistant. Both were immortal and never died, they were said to have been born in feudal Japan, and everyone bought it, since Sesshoumaru had lived through the hundred years of war and still appeared to be around the age of twenty and Kagura around the age of eighteen.

Apaxipolis grew like wildfire, and peace, the very thing that the people had been dreaming of finally came true. Crime was eliminated from the face of the earth completely. There were no more rapes, murder, theft, and even minor things such as lying, swearing, and promise-breaking. Apaxipolis was the perfect city, where everyone moved to. Food never grew short, due to technology, religion disappeared as well as race, ethnicity, and even the division of the poor, bourgeois, and the wealthy. In fact, the whole world became wealthy. Education was given out freely, and because of the purity of the Apaxipolese, there were no more ugly people. Everyone was either beautiful or handsome, equally, and because of this, jealousy vanished as well. If people were curious, it was for the good. Drugs were destroyed, and people married who they wanted to marry.

Men and women did their work equally. The children were raised properly, and never stepped out of line. The need for door locks became irrelevant because neighbors got along just fine. People fell in love with their friend's wives or husbands and they simply switched sides. Many children never knew their biological parents, but they didn't care, they were well fed, well educated and content. Sex was not banned, it became a comprehensive thing that was needed for reproductions. People learned to control themselves for the sake of their leader, Sesshoumaru. They loved him with all their hearts. There was nothing they hated except for discord, chaos, disaster, and hatred, the elements that fueled to WW70.

In turn, Sesshoumaru did not dominate his people, he appeared for public speeches, and often on the streets. He appeared in schools, universities, bingo games, chess, and everything imaginable. And although he did everything he could to keep his people happy, the growing population took its toll. People came to not know what Sesshoumaru looked like. His face appeared in encyclopedias and other fact books, but nobody was sure if that was really him, because the pictures differed slightly depending on the publishers and the authors. And again, it did not matter, as long as he kept them content, there was no need to know what their mysterious immortal leader looked like. Because of this Sesshoumaru became confined to his own family. Surprisingly enough, it was not a large family. It consisted of himself, Kagura, his half-brother Inuyasha, and two of his children, whom had already grown up and left. The older one was Kuromaru and the younger one was Rin. Of course there were other people, but they were not a part of the the family, they were more like imps, or, more specifically, loyal retainers by the name of Jaken, Myoga, and Toutosai. They supported their bosses, and though Sesshoumaru was the founder and the leader of Apaxipolis, he chose to carry with him one retainer, Jaken. Inuyasha took Toutosai and Myoga as his retainers. In reality, Myoga was supposed to assist Kagura, but she did not want a retainer and gave him to Inuyasha.

Sesshoumaru believed that Inuyasha was like him, a person who would cover his emotions to please the people. For if Sesshoumaru showed any signs of grief or anger, he was afraid that it would trigger another catastrophic war. Unfortunately, Inuyasha was not like his brother. He was quite the opposite. The only similarities between the two were their appearances and their love for peace. However, Inuyasha believed in a different thing, than his brother and the majority of the city. He believed in authenticity, and reality; he was ready to embrace the truth and deal with the consequences, instead of changing the topic with petty excuses. These thoughts, he expressed openly, and it greatly perturbed Sesshoumaru. But Sesshoumaru let it slip, which was another thing that Inuyasha did not do. When headed with a problem, Inuyasha would meet it head on, and cling adamantly onto it until he was sure it was solved.

Inuyasha and his blatant frankness tugged at Sesshoumaru's heart. Inuyasha was his brother, and he was not someone he wanted to be enemies with (actually, Sesshoumaru didn't want any enemies). And so he continued to drop the circumstances behind him, and the crisis grew bigger. When Inuyasha was certain that his brother was uninterested, he did something that truly horrified his brother. He did not mean for it to happen, but it happened. The nonconformist took his thoughts and voiced them to the public. It was not a very large crowd, or rather, the crowd started large and slowly ebbed away into nothing more than five people. The very aspect of Inuyasha voicing his tenets (which wasn't more than ten words) to the public killed Sesshoumaru, inside and out. Sesshoumaru could not believe that his cute baby brother had chosen to step up onto the podium that he, himself had often made speeches on in the past. This small revelation happened when Inuyasha was on his way to work. His baby brother stood there quietly, not saying anything for a moment. Inuyasha had stared out at the public, his eyes scanning the mass of people before him. He never really wanted to start his speech, but he had been provoked.

Before Inuyasha could step off, one person stopped and stared. Then he or she (I cannot remember which gender the person was) pointed up at him and shouted, "SESSHOUMARU HAS RETURNED!" Inuyasha was in a state of panic. He had tried to scramble off the podium, because he was not used to attention and did not want it. Gasps racked throughout the streets and before Inuyasha knew it, the whole world was standing before him, they had turned the microphone on, and the media were filming him. He could have lied, he could have given the speech of his brother, which he had practically memorized or he could have created and new "Sesshoumaru Speech". But he did not do that. He made a fatal mistake my leaning forward into the microphone and whispering hoarsely, "I am not Sesshoumaru." Those four words sent a jolt of shock through the crowd. Peoples' eyes enlarged and bulged. And when the media asked him just who he was, Inuyasha muttered shyly, "I am his younger brother, Inuyasha."

From there, the media had asked him millions of questions, and the flash of the digital cameras blinded him. The voices shut his ear off and made him deaf, and the words that the media shoved into his mouth made him mute. The screaming, questioning, and bugging rose up and continued to pile high, and all people have their limits in patience. The only difference was that the people of Apaxipolis never tried each other's patience. Everyone who had come to see Inuyasha, brother of Sesshoumaru made the usually shy and quiet man snap, Inuyasha became furious, visibly furious. It made him so angry that his whole face transformed into a façade of fury. The hanyou opened his mouth and yelled: "SHUT UP!" Those two words silenced everyone and everything. Cars screeched to a stop, buses, trains, subways, and monorails all stopped dead in their tracks. Inuyasha stood there on the podium, breathing heavily as he glared across the sea of people, then he stepped off and melted into the crowd, or made an attempt to do so. But people parted and gave him leeway to wherever he was headed.

They had never witnessed such emotion before. Anger and sorrow did not exist in the city of Apaxipolis; the only emotions that existed were happiness, apathy, hope, and love. People were amazed, but they were not afraid, for fear was also something that was not present in the emotion banks of the Apaxipolese. Inuyasha left and when the shock finally wore out, five people trailed after him. People learned how to drop the subject and did so accordingly. The cars, trains, subways, and monorails continued on their way and the people went back to their usual businesses. According to the public, Inuaysha's small revelation did not exist, it never existed and never it would. But that was what the public believed. For the five people that followed Inuyasha, it existed; they saw it and filmed it to make sure it existed. They were curious, they wanted to know what created that emotion, and to do that, they did the only thing possible: follow the one who expressed the new emotion, or shall I say, the _forgotten_ sentiment. These five people were people with normal lives and people who expressed the same emotions everyone else expressed. Their names were: Kagome Higurashi, Sango Kurosama, Miroku Tayjia, Ayame Hitomi, and Kouga Yuro.

The six became friends and a part of a closely-knit group, which they called Inu no Taisho. Inu, coming from the first part of Inuyasha's name and Taisho coming from his last name. When Sesshoumaru found this out, he knew that the world was about to change and did not know what to do. He spent hours So he thought of the only solution possible that did not include the expulsion of his own sibling and his friends from Apaxipolis, and executed it…

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**(Chapter 1)  
Time: December 27th, 5799**

The wind screamed at the top of an old building that sat in the center of the city hall, which was the core of Apaxipolis. Long silver sheets of hair whipped gracefully in the wind as stunning amber eyes gazed calmly out at the twinkling city below. Although those eyes were calm, they were laced with tears; tears that cried for the future of Apaxipolis. Eventually, the tears oozed out of the eyes and spilled down the cheeks of the person before landing on his toes. His bangs rippled in wind with his hair and. The air was bitingly cold, making his nose and cheeks turn rosy red along with the tip of his pointed ears. He knew he had to do this. The man made his way towards the edge of the building then closed his eyes and spread his arms out so that they were eagle spread. He made a promise to them… without further ado, he tipped forward and continued to do so until he lost his balance. He fell, and if his decision was not another word for a suicide, he would have looked beautiful. The silver hair billowed gracefully out behind him, moving as if in slow motion. His eyes were still closed, and a small smile graced his handsome face while his clothes billowed behind him. But the face became no longer handsome when it smashed into the group, leaving nothing more than a broken body with a smashed face. Blood and bits of his fangs scattered across the pavement.

One side of his face was shattered, the other remained intact, but the smashed face was covered by the ground and by the mass of hair that slowly drifted down and settled on his back, on the pavement and across his face. The unmarred part of his face showed smooth skin along with two purple stripes that went under his eyes across his cheeks. What was supposed to be a crescent moon was partially hidden by his whispy bangs that rippled occasionally in the breeze. One lone tear slowly squeezed out from his closed, intact eyelid and down through the corner of his eyes before it stopped at the tip of his nose and hung there for a while, before falling onto the ground with a quiet splash. Passersby stopped what they were doing. They rushed over to the body and did not know what to do. After all, they were never trained to deal with unnatural deaths. But they knew how to do one thing: figure out the man's identity. One of the bravest of the Apaxipolese stepped forward and searched the man's pockets until he found his wallet. He opened it up and read the contents. What he saw in the wallet made him drop the wallet in surprise, it could have been horror, but horror did not exist, so it was surprise.

The said person stood slowly, the look of shock still written on his face. He stared apathetically down at the man before him until another woman managed to ask him, "Who is it?" The man silently handed the woman the dead person's wallet. She took the wallet from him and flipped it open. There was a family picture of the same man sitting on a couch with a beautiful woman who had ruby-red eyes and jet-black hair, which she pinned up on her head. Next to him was another younger man with long white hair and dog-ears perched on his head. Sitting on the dead man's lap was a little girl with long black hair with a small side pony tail to her left. Sitting on the woman's lap was a boy with short silver hair and red eyes. Next to that was the dead man's driver's license. On it, next to the word NAME was: Sesshoumaru Taisho.

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The rain fell in heavy drops down from the gray skies and onto the mourning world. Death of a loved one was the only grievance the world felt. In the moist, brown earth, a hole had been dug up ready to place the coffin into the grave. Millions of people stood around to watch their great leader be put to rest. All of them were dressed in black and were hidden under a roof of black umbrellas. Only four people were not saved from the cold rain, they were Sesshoumaru's family. Kagura stood in the middle sobbing while her children Rin and Kuromaru tried their best to console here. Several feet behind them, was the fourth figure without an umbrella. He was a lone man, who looked around the age of nineteen. Unlike the rest, who were dressed in their black suits and clothing, he wore a bright red haori and hakamas. He stood out from the rest and if it hadn't been for his snowy white dog ears on top of his head, then people would have mistaken him as Sesshoumaru himself.

This man looked very, very similar to Sesshoumaru indeed. He had long, whitish-silver hair that fell past his waist and down to the back of his knees (A/N: I know Inuyasha's hair actually comes drown up to his butt, but this is way into the future, so his hair will be much longer, but not as long as Sesshoumaru's). The rain fell onto his face and body and dribbled down to his bare feet. Several people whispered about him being disloyal to Sesshoumaru, but the man knew better. This man, everyone knew as Inuyasha. Inuyasha had become extremely famous after his small accident that occurred several years back, and everyone knew him by his strange ears that poked out through his matted white hair. Inuyasha was in a different form of mourning. He had chosen a traditional red garment to symbolize the violence of his brother's suicide. But everyone thought it was a suicide. He knew better, this was no suicide. Someone had forced Sesshoumaru to jump off the building, because they wanted to find Elektromagnetiks, and with Sesshoumaru in the way, it was hard to do.

Inuyasha's face showed no signs of sadness, nor was it very happy. No, his facial expression was that of anger, he was furious as to who had done this to his brother, who had asked for nothing except for peace. In a way, he placed the blame on himself. If he hadn't been so nonconforming, if he wasn't such a rash asshole, then perhaps Sesshoumaru may have still been alive. The hanyou blamed himself for his brother's mishap, and he would never forgive himself. And though he blamed himself for the death of his brother, his golden eyes rotated slowly in their socket, looking from one mourner to another. His eyes were searching for the murderer, he could have been there. It was plausible since more than half the world was there, and so Inuyasha stood there, searching for Sesshoumaru's murderer and thinking of a new plan to save Apaxipolis from falling into the depths of discord.

Somewhere in the crowd a man smirked. He had long black hair that flowed down past his waist and had blood red eyes that glistened like sharp, frozen blood. Everything was going according to plan; his much-hated enemy was gone, dead. As long as Sesshoumaru stayed alive, then he and his small group of violent, blood-thirsty criminals could not to anything. He had considered assassinating Sesshoumaru on some of his speeches, but seeing that the crowd loved him too much, he had decided against it. For a moment he thought that Sesshoumaru was unstoppable and completely flawless until his idiotic, hanyou brother became known to the public. Seeing that this Inuyasha was one of authenticity, and quite the opposite of the "great" leader, Naraku found Sesshoumaru's weakness. His lips curled into a sneer.

The malefactor knew who Inuyasha was. Inuyasha stuck out like a sore thumb even without his bright red garment. The said man sneered as a woman with long, blue-black hair reached over and placed a comforting hand on Inuyasha's shoulder. She had black hair that was much longer than his girlfriend's hair. His girlfriend's name was Kikyou and the thing that amazed him the most was the fact that she looked very much like her. He hoped to see the fool break down, but the stoic, angry expression never left the said hanyou's face. The Hanyou continued to stare out into the crowd, his large, golden eyes flaring like wild, angry fire. This angered the evil man, he hoped to see the foolish freak break down, but he did not. In fact, quite contrary to the malefactor's hopes, the golden eyes held determination in them. Was this Inuyasha going to take over his brother's role? If Inuyasha was, then he would have to wait another three thousand years to strike again. Suddenly the golden eyes were looking straight at him.

Time seemed to freeze. Was he caught? Warm, golden eyes met with cold, blood red eyes. Those eyes continued to pierce through the villain's eye-sockets, almost as if they could read his mind. Almost… luckily for him, the golden eyes averted and returned to be attentive with the rest of the funeral. Behind him a voice whispered, "Naraku-sama, it is time to leave." Naraku turned his gaze from Inuyasha to one of his close network of evil-doers. It was one of his closest people, Mouryumaru. He had shoulder-length hair that was cut cleanly at the edges and a straight bang that jarred across his forehead in one simple line.

"I shall be with you, Mouryumaru. Wait for me with Kikyou by the limousine."

"Hai, Naraku-sama." Was the only response and Mouryumaru stepped back and away from Naraku. Naraku made his way past the crowd and towards Inuyasha who was now staring down at the coffin being lowered into the ground. Kagura had crumpled into the ground in an ungraceful heap while her children tried their best to get her back on her feet. Inuyasha had not changed from his earlier position, except for the fact that the strange woman was now standing next to him. Naraku knew that he didn't need to say anything to gain Inuyasha's attention, for the hanyou could already smell him out.

"What the hell do you want?" Was the only response Naraku got.

"Nothing, I just came to pay my respects to the _dear_ leader who killed himself. And of course to give you my sympathy."

"Dear leader my ass. You're secretly glad that my brother's dead, right? Or maybe," Inuyasha finally moved his head and turned to face Naraku, "You killed him." Naraku's heart gave a jolt. Inuaysha continued to stare steadily at Naraku with his anger-filled eyes. The woman who was next to him turned out to look very much like Kikyou, his girlfriend. "Do you have anything to say?" Was the next thing that Inuyasha asked him, this time in a very gruff manner. Naraku thought about it for a while. "Well?" Another thing Naraku noticed about Inuyasha was that he was very impatient and had changed a lot since several years ago. One of them being that he was no longer shy, but some things just never changed: Inuyasha was always authentic and straight to the point.

"As a matter of fact I do. I would not waste my time killing off someone whom everyone loved so much. Besides, how would the people here think of me if I did that. I hope you do realize that I too have a reputation to keep. Contrary to you, I don't go around soiling my reputation. More than half the people in Apaxipolis believe that you are the one that killed him." Naraku smirked, when Inuyasha's thick eyebrow arched. "I pity the youkai that married your mother." Inuyasha's fanged bared, he did not like it when people picked on anyone who was closest to him, and that included his parents, Sesshoumaru, and his relatives.

"Why you…" Inuyasha was about to fly at Naraku's throat with his talons poised, but the woman who looked like Kikyou grabbed onto him and pulled him back. Naraku smirked.

"Stop it Inuyasha, he isn't worth it." Inuyasha glared at the woman who glared back at him. This staring fight went on for a minute or two before Inuyasha gave in with a quiet: FEH. With that, Inuyasha turned back to his earlier position. Although Naraku had provoked him, he found himself backing away from the said hanyou. The man was lethal to him, he could have already found his plan out and was bent on breaking it. _How much do you know?_ Naraku wondered to himself as he walked away from the fuming hanyou. He stopped by the limousine and stood there pondering for a moment as he absentmindedly gave Kikyou a kiss.

Kikyou smiled down at him, she was lovely beyond his wildest dreams. She completed him, and what made him love her most was the fact that she left Inuyasha to be with him, Naraku. Kikyou had long black hair that flowed down to her waist and was wearing a white silk blouse and a trendy black dress suit. She wore a pair of chic black heels for the occasion. She had not followed him to the funeral, mostly because she did not want to interfere with Inuyasha, or at least that was what he had been told. Naraku stared back at the woman who was still holding onto Inuyasha's sleeves and watching him along with the hanyou. The Hanyou stared at Kikyou for a second, a look of sadness crossing over his face, before it flickered back to it's stoic expression. That was all Naraku saw before he got into his limousine. They began to move away from the funeral, and Kikyou snuggled up to him, yet he was not concentrating on any form of affection at the moment. At the very moment the only thing that kept on passing through his head was: _How much? How much did that Hanyou know?_

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**Author's Note:**

I know chapter one is super short, but it's actually a continuation of the prologue. The only reason why I separated this chapter into (Prologue) and (Chapter 1) was because the prologue was done in past, past tense, and chapter 1 was done in just past tense. I would also like to apologize to all those Sesshoumaru fans out there for killing him off like that, but that wasn't the real Sesshoumaru (covers mouth, crap… I just spoiled parts of the story! Oh well…) so don't pelt me with tomatoes. And some of the words I used in this chapter were made up, so the dictionary's right below for your convenience, in case you didn't figure the definition out by reading the story:

_Vilthair (n. Vilthairist, adv. Viltharisim) – any form of discrimination through the color of the person's hair._

_Elektromagnetiks – a new weapon that uses electricity as it's primary power source. When Elektromagnetiks is used, anything that has an electric charge becomes unstable and kills anything that comes even three feet close to the electric source, has no defense mechanisms, except for concrete or anything that cannot conduct._

_Demokarism (n. Demokarist) – The belief that demons (youkai) are the superior species and that any other species below that is nothing and insignificant._

_Apaxipolis – The one country that dominates the world that Inuyasha and all the characters are in. There are no other countries other than Apaxipolis, and there are no other cities in Apaxipolis except Apaxipolis itself. The city/country is very safe, yet there is something going on in the only historical building that stands in the middle of the city._

Well, anyway, I'm done for now, and I know the prologue is very short as well as chapter one, but it's just the beginning, and if I made it any longer, I'm gonna put you all to sleep with Marxism, socialism, communism, and all the 1984 bullshit. I hope that at least ten people review for this story, because… well… I think it's my best story, and my most original work ever. It's a bit philosophical, but it's more action/adventure, because later on, Inuyasha find out that Sesshoumaru is NOT dead, and heads off to find him along with Kagome, and his friends (Yes! Kouga is his friend in this one), and there are bad guys in this one that have the same goal as Inuyasha, but they're trying to use it to destroy Apaxipolis and create a world of discord and all that crap. Inuyasha is also looking for Elektromagnetiks, which Sesshoumaru had not destroyed for some crazy reason. Destroying Elektromagnetiks will basically shut the villains up…

Speaking of villains, I'm sure you all know who the bad guys are…. Yep, surprise, surprise, surprise! The bad guys are Naraku, Hakudoushi, Mouryumaru, and Kanna. Also, another bummer for Sesshoumaru fans, Sesshoumaru is not the main character, he sort of takes the role of Toutosai from the real InuYasha series, but he isn't really minor either, because he created Apaxipolis, stopped WW70, and created Elektromagnetiks, so yeah… don't scream at me about how Sesshoumaru deserves a bigger role, because he doesn't in this one. I'm only doing that so I can balance my Sesshoumaru-less stories with my Sesshoumaru-filled stories, so there.

And last but not least, before I shut up, STAR WARS, which was mentioned as a weapon was actually being worked on during the cold war. The movie Star Wars was based on the weapon, or something like that. Anyway, since most of you might not know what Star Wars is, I shall give you the oh-so-lovely and short little tale about it. Clears throat

_As you can see, the cold war was this silent tension between the United States and the U.S.S.R (aka the Soviet Union), duh… and well, part of the cold war was the threat that the two countries kept on tossing at each other. You know, like, "If you piss me off, I'll press the big, red button and all my nukes are going to go flying at you and they're going to kill you all" and things like that. During the cold war, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. created a new form of nukes called IBM (International Ballistic Missiles). Basically, what this can do is that when it is fired, it actually goes out of the atmosphere and comes back down, so it's hard to intercept it. So… since this was what the U.S.S.R. had, the U.S. decided to create a defense mechanism for it and they began a research for something that would stop it called Star Wars._

_And I am telling you, the plan for Star Wars was one AWESOME plan. To think about the fact that they wanted to make this in the 60s or 70s just blows my mind away. Anyway, so what happens is, if the Russians fire their IBMs, the U.S. can launch Star Wars, and it's basically this missile that will explode up in the atmosphere or some substances that will form a glitter of "stars" so the IBM explodes out of the earth's atmosphere and the remains of that… blah, blah, blah…_

Yeah, so that's star wars and I'm gonna shut the hell up now. Review.


	2. Beginning the Quest

**Disclaimer: **Inuyasha is not owned by stupid me… I should have invented it earlier…

"**The Edifice"**

**By: Alexander Y. Jones**

**(Chapter 2)**

**Beginning the Quest**

Inuyasha stared out into the night sky of Apaxipolis. It was a calm, beautiful night. This very night he was experiencing at the moment, was the same as when Sesshoumaru flung himself off the top of the central building of Apaxipolis. Speaking of which, Inuyasha never really liked. It was the only historical building that had been left standing and was built in the wake of the Nazis. Over the courses of time, the once small and insignificant building became larger and larger until it eventually reached up to two thousand stories high. It was a large black building and was known to Apaxipolis as "The Edifice". People treated the building as if it wasn't there. One man had once crashed his car because he didn't know that the building was there. Inuyasha did not get it. _He_ saw it, _he_ was sure he saw it, and _he_ was aware of it as were his other friends he had met several years back. He had met them when he made the fatal mistake of making himself known to the world.

For many years after his large encounter with millions of people, Inuyasha was disgusted with himself. And when he found out that there were actually some people who actually agreed with what he believed, he was not thrilled. He was too upset and worried about how Sesshoumaru would feel. And eventually, he made Sesshoumaru snap, and now he was gone. What was the world to do without Sesshoumaru? The sound of Kagura's sobbing from next door brought the hanyou back into reality. Inuyasha winced. When they returned home Kagura had thrown a fit at him. She blamed him for the death of Sesshoumaru and that not only had he ruined her life but the whole bloodstream of Apaxipolis. He had not meant to do such things, and yes, Inuyasha did blame himself, and he still refused to open up to the five strangers that offered to befriend him. He hated society, and that was the reason why Inuyasha was unknown to the world. This was another point that Kagura had brought up when they came back from the funeral. She told him that she knew very well that he was not interested in running a city with over 40 million inhabitants. She was correct, Inuyasha did not give a damn and would have happily let Sesshoumaru deal with it.

But, what Kagura didn't know about Inuyasha was his nonconformity. Inuyasha was such a maverick that he even refused to hang out with the five, very few nonconformists. He was happy to be by himself because for over three thousand years he lived his life in solitude. In the beginning, when he was a child, Inuyasha did not understand why everyone hated him. The only one who accepted him for who he was, was Sesshoumaru. Otherwise, he was shunned from the world and stamped as a walking shame for his father. Eventually, Inuyasha grew to accept the malicious accusations and biting comments. Then he learned to get used to it. By the time he reached the age of three-hundred, he had grown completely comfortable with loneliness. Sesshoumaru, in his part became worried about him, but Inuyasha pushed him away and asked him to leave him alone. The demokairism that mocked him and jeered at him was what protected him from WW70. Inuyasha had left the world to be on his own. He was over a thousand years old, and did not care for the world. He knew that the world had been growing more and more corrupt just by the scent in the air, but he did not care. He was secretly glad that this was happening and hoped that the war destroyed everyone's lives.

Then the heavens gave him the gift of WW70, the disastrous war that decimated the world and tore it to pieces. But he was not there to witness the beginnings nor was he there to see the tension build more and more until it exploded in a fiery ball of incest, pain, and discord. He, Inuyasha had been in the deepest darkest cave he could find and stayed there when he turned 350 years old. He never saw WWI and the rise to the digital world. He did not care, and when Sesshoumaru came to find him after WW70, the hanyou was half dead from starvation. He could have gladly died in the cave not knowing what was going on around him, but no, Sesshoumaru brought him into the world and the world corrupted his mind. Inuyasha was a bit resentful towards his brother, but he still cared for him and loved him, he had known Sesshoumaru since forever and he had been protected and fed by his half-brother when he was a child. At first, when Inuyasha first came out from his cave after over three thousand years, he refused to accept the world, but later, he grew accustomed to it again and started to go to work.

Inuyasha became an anonymous artist creating controversial work that would have been spit upon if Sesshoumaru did not purify the world. He often worked with murals and frescos, and sometimes did some canvases and digital art, but he was mostly a traditional artist. His artworks were often violent and though galleries did accept them, they were largely ignored. Thus, if it hadn't been for Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha would have been broke, using his own blood for paint. He was silent, and reserved, he refused to appear in parties and dances that Sesshoumaru tried to force him to go to, he refused to date, but there was one woman who took his breath away, and when his family found out that Inuyasha had decided to take up a pre-mate, they were delighted for him. The woman that Inuyasha fell for was Kikyou Hikaru, a beautiful and calm woman with an icy edge. They had gone out for five years until Kikyou tore his heart to shreds when she suddenly left him for another man named Naraku. He did not understand why she had left him and tried to ask her just what he had done to make her leave him, but the only reply he got from her was a cold shoulder. It was then when Inuyasha re-discovered the long forgotten emotions of anger, pain, and sorrow. And it was also then, when his artwork changed dramatically.

His paintings changed from peaceful complaints to gory, bloody interpretations of Apaxipolis and eventually, Inuyasha began to write a book, a book that was absent from the world, it was one based on existentialism and authenticity. In order to avoid conflict with his brother, Inuyasha had kept the book hidden in the depths of his room where only he knew existed. He had already finished the whole book and was in the midst of editing it, but did not want to publish it. For if he were to publish such controversial book, then he would receive attention from the whole world, which was what he had been avoiding for ages. He could have shown the book to the five nonconformists that had (and still were) been trying to get him to join them, but it was his and it was private. To be frank, Inuyasha hated the nonconformist group, he felt that they wanted too much attention and tried his best to avoid them. But that was not the major reason why he disliked them so much. The main reason was because of a woman named Kagome. Seeing Kagome destroyed Inuyasha on the inside, she reminded him too much of Kikyou, and to feel as if "Kikyou" was being what she used to be to him, made him want her more.

Damn! He had been so close to hating Kikyou, which was what he wanted to do so much. She told him to hate her, and he told her that he would, but he never actually said it and meant it. To make matters worse, Kikyou knew that when he told her he hated her on the day they split, that he didn't mean it. She seemed to enjoy watching him roast in pain. Inuyasha shook his head violently. He didn't want to think about her anymore, so in order to clear his mind, he slowly slid off his bed and slithered under the bed. Inuyasha reached forward and pushed a small floor trimming back and slid it so that it revealed a small hole, which he reached into to withdraw a book. The said hanyou slithered back out from under his bed after replacing the floor trimming and sat back on his bed. He fingered the book, which was black and untitled. This was his book. Inuyasha slowly opened the book and ran his fingers over the smooth, creamy pages that were filled with elegant black letterings; these letterings belonged to him. Despite his rugged look and his authenticity, the smooth, flowing scripture reflected his shy and elegant nature and his gentleness. He had been to tender for his own good when it came to Kikyou. Inuyasha shook his head again before he flipped to the way back where he wrote: _And now… these words of wisdom will fade away from existence as have I._ For a moment, he sat there watching the back cover of the open book. Time seemed to fly by as he slowly ran his fingers over the surface, so gently, almost as if he was a blind man reading brail.

And he sat there for quite a while when his calloused fingers slipped off the letters and over the edges of something that was folded and hidden in the book. Inuyasha didn't notice it at first, he simply frowned, wondering what happened to his book, when he thought he smelled something familiar. Inuyasha's frown deepened. Slowly, he lifted his fingers to his nose and sniffed them gently. Yes, he knew the scent it was Sesshoumaru's. But it was strange… the scent was fresh as if Sesshoumaru was in his room just an hour ago. He frowned to himself in confusion and quickly grabbed the book and brought it to his nose. He sniffed more loudly and let his brain process Sesshoumaru's scent. _How strange…_ Inuyasha thought to himself, _How very strange… according to my senses, Sesshoumaru was here thirty minutes ago…_ Unlike that of a dead person, Sesshoumaru's scent on the book was filled with vitality. But it was absurd, Sesshoumaru was dead, he swore he saw him lying in his coffin just two hours ago. Without thinking twice, Inuyasha reached over and snatched his blade he used to sharpen his pencils for drawing and carefully separated the page from the cover of the book. The air seemed to thicken around Inuyasha, there was a single white paper folded carefully and fitted into the back of his book. Furrowing in brow in confusion, Inuyasha took the paper out and opened it. Sure enough, on the paper, Sesshoumaru's elegant handwriting looped and glided to form his name: _To my dear Brother._

_Inuyasha,_

_It shouldn't be long before you come and find out that I have left a letter for you and that I have also read your book. I am writing you this letter, because it is imperative that you know this bit of information. As of now the whole world will believe me dead, and that was exactly what I wanted. Do not be alarmed when I tell you that I am not. I have had my death staged because I knew that without me, the Band of Discordants would act to destroy Apaxipolis. It may be something that I do not want, but like you said, the world must suffer at least a little bit to make things right again for some time. I know that you do not want to be a part of my political mess, however, I need your help, and you will need some help yourself. The Band of Discordants in Apaxipolis that are trying to thwart the peace of the people and corrupt the currently pure minds. The same people are also in search for Elektromagnetiks, which you should know very well. I should have destroyed it and all other traces of its existence when I had the chance, but I let my pride take over and so Elektromagnetiks still exists. Therefore, you must find it before the Band of Discordance do. They have been in search for Elektormagnetiks in order to create world war eighty, why I do not know. That is something that I need for you to find out. Another thing that the Band of Discordants are in search for is the keeper of the Shikon no Tama; I believe this is something that needs some explanations, so I shall explain it to you. In your book, you have wondered how I kept such a peaceful world for so long and how I had managed to satisfy the people. You are correct in that humans and youkais and even hanyous are evil and greedy by nature. And you are also correct in that there is nothing we can do to fix it, but have found something or someone who held onto a small piece that would keep the world pure forever as long as she was not corrupted herself. The Shikon no Tama is a jewel of purity and was what made the Apaxipolese pure people. As pure as the Shikon no Tama gets, it can be easily tainted if the keeper is corrupted. If the keeper I knew then was still alive I could have easily directed you to her, but alas, the keeper is a human miko, and as you know humans are not immortal like us youkais and hanyous. Therefore the Shikon no Tama has been passed down for centuries from one pure miko to another. This is another one of your jobs, you must find this miko and protect her from the Band of Discordants. You may hate me right now, for leaving you such responsibilities, but you are the only one that I can trust without worrying about getting hurt. You may be hanyou, but you are very powerful and you have proved it to me when you killed Ryuuseki the dragon youkai that even father could not kill and only seal. It is also here where I must tell you a deep secret about you that even you did not know about. In your left eye is the black pearl, it is the portal that leads you to father's tomb. There, you will find a sword called the Tetsusaiga, which was forged from father's fang. Use it well, and protect the keeper from the Band of Discordants. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you who the members of the Band of Discordants are for I do not know, but you are smart and observant enough to figure that out. I am leaving Apaxipolis under your hands for a while until I have sorted out a problem that I have figured out ten years ago. I will not ask you not to find me, for I know you will, but what I will tell you is to postpone your search for me and find the keeper of the Shikon no Tama first and my hidden weapon first. She and Elektromagnetiks are much more important than this Sesshoumaru. Also take care of Kagura for me, I know that she is not feeling well and please do not tell her than I am still alive. I will return to her in open arms when the time is right._

_Your Brother,_

_Sesshoumaru Taisho_

Inuyasha looked up, perplexed. He could not understand what was what. He had been so sure the man in the coffin was Sesshoumaru, he even smelled like him! Inuyasha frowned, and scanned the letter, sniffing it and squinting suspiciously at the letter. He almost hoped someone was impersonating his brother. No matter how hard he looked, or how hard he sniffed, he had been convinced that the letter was no doubt, written by Sesshoumaru. But how on earth was his brother expecting him to find elektromagnetiks in such a large city. Even more importantly, where exactly was his brother? Inuyasha sighed and stood up, all this was too confusing to digest, the Discordants, this woman who was supposed to be guarding the Shikon no Tama, and then there was something else. The poor, confused Hanyou sat there for a moment, still clutching onto Sesshoumaru's letter. The book he had written lay forgotten on the floor. It wasn't until now that Inuyasha forgotten about his books.

A small tap on Inuyasha's door brought him back into reality. "What?" He snapped a bit too rudely. The door creaked open, and Rin stuck her head into the room. "What the fuck do you want?" Inuyasha growled at his niece. The said woman ignored him and invited herself into his room without even asking him. "HEY! Who said that _you_ can come into my room anyways?" Rin sat at the edge of his bed and stared intently at him.

"You miss him don't you?" She asked softly.

"Miss who?"

"Who else would you possibly miss besides my father."

"KEH! I don't miss him. He and his goddamn peace bullshit gave him what he deserved." Inuyasha turned his head away from the girl, and stared at a small spot of paint on the floor. This was another trait of Inuyasha. He refused to show any signs of gentleness or caring, but deep down inside he did care. It was just that he didn't want to show it to anyone. He was never comfortable with showing any signs of care and love, especially after the way Kikyou had hurt him beyond words. Yet, he could not escape Rin or anyone in his family. To them, he was like an open book. Abruptly, Inuyasha pivoted around and glared at the said woman sitting at the edge of _his_ bed. "And who asked you to sit on _my_ bed. Get off!" Rin frowned, but did not get off his bed. It did not surprise him, since Rin got her stubbornness from his brother. "Oy! Did you not hear me? Get off! No, get _out!_ Scam!" Inuyasha made frantic shooing motions that made him appear a bit ridiculous, but he did not notice it until Rin giggled a bit. "Now what? Did uncle _Yashie_ do something stupid again?" He spat.

"I miss daddy."

"Keh!" Was the only response he would give Rin.

"Why are you so mean, you're so different from daddy and everyone else that lives in this city." Rin turned her downcast gaze toward Inuyasha, her eyes now glazed with curiosity. Another thing that Inuyasha hated; curiosity. It was something that troubled people and youkais, that eventually gave them a piece of its own mind. Curiosity was natural in everyone, but in this case, it was something that was considered a family trait. Even he, Inuyasha, got curious a lot. "Why are you so different from everyone else? Why couldn't you just let go a flow with the rest if the crowd? How come you hate this place so much? Do you really hate everyone that much? Why did daddy even bring you back?"

"AUUUUUUUUURAAAAAAHHHHH! So much damn questions! Get the hell out of here, you wretch! You're making me want to throw up on you!" Rin stood up sadly.

"I only wanted some consolation after the death of my father. It seems as if you don't care, but as always, we all know that you do care deep down inside."

"Did you not hear me? GET. OUT!"

Rin stood up from Inuyasha's bed and shuffled out of his room. "Sheesh, Uncle Yasha's so pesky and touchy. I wished he could just loosen up…" Inuyasha jumped up from his position on the floor and roared at his niece, scaring her senseless. Rin quickly ran out of the room, and Inuyasha followed her, almost as if chasing her, and when he got to the door, he slammed the door shut. The door crashed into its frame with an explosion and a bang that literally shook the room and broke the frames, causing a bit of dust. When the dust settled, the door was mangled up into part boards, part splinters. He winced. Kagura was not going to like this, she was sure to come soon to investigate what caused such racket.

Sure enough, he could hear her getting up from her bed. She had stopped sobbing her eyes out, and had pulled the sheets of her bed back. Now he could hear her slippers shuffling across the floor. _Oh crap!_ Inuyasha thought bitterly to himself. _Here we go again…_ he sighed as the remains of his doors were kicked open by a slender leg with silk slippers. Kagura had poked her head into his room. Her ruby-red eyes were no longer sad and tear-brimmed, but now burning with annoyance. "Inuyasha," She snapped angrily, "This is the tenth door you crashed this week! What on earth is the matter with you?" The said woman placed her hands on her hips and tapped her feet impatiently. He knew she was waiting for an answer.

"Rin. That's the problem. She still continues to be annoying even if she's already grown up and has a fiancé." Kagura sighed.

"Give her a chance." She said more gently, "She just lost her father as I have lost my husband and as you have lost your brother. People mourn in different ways."

"Keh! You call bombarding a person with questions _mourning?_" Inuyasha raised one thick eyebrow at Kagura, who was now clutching her head in frustration.

"Well, do you call growling and screaming at innocent people mourning? Why and how did you become so opposite from… from… Sesshoumaru? You're always so angsty and angry, why?" Kagura's angry eyes faded again, and was replaced with tears and sorrow. "How come you refuse to help people that are upsetted by… by…" Kagura never finished, because she relapsed into crying again. Inuyasha sighed. He hated it when people cried. He thought it was stupid and inconsiderate of the person next to them. If they wanted to cry, then they should just cry in private. _Take care of Kagura for me…_ Sesshoumaru's words loomed into his head. He looked from the sobbing woman, then away and then back again. Should he tell her the truth, should he wave Sesshoumaru's letter in her face? _Do not tell Kagura that I am alive…_ Why? He wondered to himself. Suddenly, he knew. Sesshoumaru did this to keep Kagura out of the trouble. He did it to blind her from the problems that Sesshoumaru and he himself had been going through. Inuyasha grinded his teeth together in anger. _I wish I could send you a response to this letter, but I do not know where you are._ Inuyasha stood up. No. He would do as Sesshoumaru told him for now, but he would eventually tell Kagura.

He had been told to take care of Kagura for his brother, and that meant to keep her out of pain. If Sesshoumaru wanted to keep Kagura out of the face of danger, then he had to take the wool off her eyes. In order for Kagura to be safe, then she had to see the world for what it was. Inuyasha stood up. "Shut up." He snapped. Those two words were from Inuyasha's own private dictionary, he was rude and mean, but in this case, "Shut up" meant, "Please don't cry". Kagura stopped crying and looked up and Inuyasha who was now standing with his fists to his side. "Do you think that I don't know about losing someone I love?" Inuyasha turned his angry gaze to Kagura who was now staring at him, her eyes wide with shock from his coldness. "I've lost someone I love, and you know about it. You've seen me after I lost _her._ Though she may not have been physically dead, her leaving me in such a cold manner was the same as her leaving me to the underworld." Kaguras stared at him, "Did you ever see me sob in someone else's face like that? No! I never did that!"

"You don't have the emotions that normal people carry."

"I don't have emotions? What am I, a cyborg? I'm flesh and bones like everyone else in this world! I have other emotions besides anger and annoyance, okay? I feel like you and every other goddamn living creature in this world does! But I don't shed a tear! Why?" Kagura averted her gaze from Inuyasha and shook her head, in response to Inuyasha's explanation. "Because there are others outside of Apaxipolis that suffer so much more than losing someone they love. They are in starvation, and though Sesshoumaru tries his best to expand Apaxipolis all around the world to salvage them, he cannot. Those people are constantly at war, every day, they lose a friend or a loved one. Death is nothing new to them, Suffering is all they can get, there are crimes committed out there, murder, rape, theft, incest, chaos! Apaxipolis is not the world! I've seen it all, and so has Sesshoumaru, and that is the exact reason why he's been going through so much stress."

"I don't believe you." Was the reply he received from Kagura. He stood up, and looked down at Kagura, who looked back up at him with determination in her eyes. "You may have traveled far and wide, but I don't believe you."

"Fine then." Inuyasha snapped. He reached down and grabbed Kagura by her wrist.

"What? Hey! LET GO!" Inuyasha dragged her into her room and tossed her onto the floor. "What are you trying to do?" Kagura asked fearfully, now clutching her robes to her chest.

"Get dressed. If you won't believe me, then maybe seeing it with your own eyes would do the trick." Kagura looked up at him.

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about?" She stared up at Inuyasha, who had his fists to his side and was glaring off into the distance. _I'm sorry Sesshoumaru, but she must see what lies beyond the walls of Apaxipolis._ "What the hell is going on?" Kagura screeched, standing up. "Hey! I'm speaking to you!" Finally, Inuyasha turned his head to her, but his eyes were burning with anger and indigence.

"You said that I may have traveled far and wide, farther than anyone else in this city, and that I didn't know anything. You're right, I have traveled far and wide, but I've seen things that the people of this city are oblivious to. Poverty, starvation, crimes, hate, sorrow, anger… everything that has been abolished from this city. You are different from everyone else, you get angry, because you have seen the dregs of war, you have felt the waves of discord, and hate. You KNOW about it as well as Sesshoumaru and I and anyone else who has seen and lived through the world. That very era still _lives_ outside the city wall. Once you step out, you will realize how different the world beyond _those_ walls are. You will feel as if you've stepped into a time machine and returned to our age… the age where we were born."

Kagura's eyes widened, "what do you mean?"

"Get dressed and follow me. Then you shall see what's been bothering Sesshoumaru all this time. And perhaps you may realize and be able to feel what you've felt before Apaxipolis came to life." Kagura took a step back, Inuyasha's eyes burned into her face.

"N-n-no…" She whispered, "I can't see it."

"You MUST see it!" Inuyasha shouted, making her jump slightly. "If you don't see it _they_ will eat you alive!" He pointed out into the busy streets below. "_They_, the same people who'd eaten away at _my_ brother and your husband, wish to destroy this city."

"You mean the people that lie outside the city walls."

"No, stupid!" Inuyasha clenched his fist for the umpteenth time, and shouted, "DANGER ALREADY LURKS WITHIN THE CITY!" His voice seemed to echo through the large bedroom. Kagura's knees buckled and weakened until she sank into the grounds. Inuyasha's bangs covered his eyes as he began to speak again, this time more calmly, "Those people out there, the ones that suffer, they want to reform. They love this city, and they have heard of its splendor from the many few who has ever left it. They do not want to destroy Apaxipolis, they want to become a part of it. There are a small group of people who are already _in_ Apaxipolis that want to destroy it. If you want to save yourself from them, then you must see." Inuyasha lifted his head slightly, just enough for his eyes to show again, "Join me in the quest to find the guardian of the Shikon no Tama."

"But… but…"

"Your life is in danger. The Band of Discordants are after you. If they find you, they will kill you, and to kill you is their ultimate goal. You are all that is left for the city to hope for, that is because they do not know that the reason to their purity is because of one miko that guards the Shikon no Tama. You should know more about this Shikon no Tama more than I do, maybe as much as Sesshoumaru does, I need your help to find her before the Band of Discordance does. She too is in great danger." Kagura stood up.

"Very well. I will see what I have not seen in over three thousand years."

"Good. Now get dressed… but wear your kimono." Kagura paused, her hands inches away from her jeans and shirt. Inuyasha stood at the door frame with his back to her. "That world has plunged back into the feudal era. The trees have outgrown the rubble and the cement and steel has long since vanished. There are no computers, no cars, no internet, no buses, no nothing. All they have are thatched huts and horses. They wear traditional clothes and they do what Japan used to do seven thousand years ago." Kagura nodded. She was not a novice at traditional Japanese wear, for she was born in feudal Japan thousands of years ago as was Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha. She was not sure about other youkais, but for now, she was certain that they may be the only three who had survived long enough to remember it. She reached into her closet and withdrew a maroonish-pink and white kimono. It had been so long since she last wore it. "I'll be waiting outside." Was Inuyasha's only reply.

Inuyasha stood outside the door with his back leaning against the wall near Kagura's door. He needn't not to change, he was already in his fire rat haori and his traditional hakama and white undershirt. He wore no shoes and his silver hair was long as always while his snow-white ears peeped flamboyantly out for all to notice. It was those two ears that this Kagome woman was so interested in. Inuyasha frowned. _So much like Kikyou…_ he thought to himself sadly. The doors to Kagura's room slid open and Kagura herself stepped out. She wore her kimono the proper way along with the thin, yellow obi and she even carried her magical fan, which she had abandoned long ago. Inuyasha pushed himself off the walls and began to walk away, this meant that it was time to go. He felt apprehensive… a bit. Outside Apaxipolis was the world that returned to the past, the past where Hanyous were hated. He didn't know what the youkais outside Apaxipolis would do if they saw him. Or even worse, how they would treat his sister-in-law. Although Inuyasha ceased to show any signs of affection, he was very protective of his relatives and those he loved. He cast a sideways glance at Kagura who followed him. She too was barefooted. They slowly made their way out of the palace they lived in and into the busy streets.

They were so oddly dressed, that people on the streets stopped to stare. Inuyasha simply shot them a glare, that surely shut them up and sent them scuttling away. He continued to weave through the crowds, his shoeless feet touching the rough cement floor. It had been ages since he hadn't worn shoes and it felt good without them. He continued to lead Kagura through the crowd when suddenly, "Inuyasha!" He flinched. He knew who that voice belonged to. "Inuyasha! OVER HERE!" He decided it was best to ignore them, but soon he found himself face-to-face with _her_. Kagome Higurashi. She was wearing red and white Miko garbs. Her Persian blue eyes twinkled with anticipation. Kagura behind him smiled slightly.

"What the fuck do you want wretch?" Inuyasha snapped.

"Where are you going?"

"None of your goddamn business." Was his friendly reply. "Move."

"Tsk, tsk, Inuyasha, I know you hate us all, but really, we can help you." He the second voice as well. It was none other than Miroku Katsana, the annoying, lecherous monk. The said monk stepped forward, his staff jangling in harmony with his movement. He had jet-black hair tied back into a tiny ponytail at the base of his neck and wore purple and indigo monk robes. He also had a gloved hand, that was purple. Inuyasha always wondered why he had the glove on his hand. Damn his curiosity and damn all his ancestors before him that developed it. "I see that you're wearing true traditional clothes, which means that you want to go out of Apaxipolis."

"So?"

"Inuyasha, behave." Was Kagura's simple reply; but she was not there. She was hidden in the depths of the crowd, trying her best to push through the mass of people that had somehow managed to separate her a little bit from Inuyasha. Nonetheless, he could still keep and eye on her and she could be reassured that Inuyasha had not ditched her into the crowd for her own demises.

"Shaddup! I don't want to associate with nonsense _freaks_ that want so much fucking attention." Kagura sighed, still making vain attempts to reach her brother-in-law and a very adamant inu hanyou before her. Another thing she had to put up with Sesshoumaru was is stubbornness. Seeing how stubborn Inuyasha was, meant that stubbornness was another family trait. Anyway, Miroku cocked his head to the side and was about to ask Inuyasha who he was talking to, when the said man suddenly snapped, "It's none of your business! If you touch Kagura, then I'll rip you to shreds." Miroku shrank back, discouraged, but Kagome did not seemed disheartened at all. In fact, she raised her chin up slightly and asked Inuyasha straight out:

"Well, that isn't our point, you idiot!"

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed, making him look much like Sesshoumaru, as Kagura observed. "Get lost. And so what if that wasn't your goddamn point? Go have some stupid holiday fun. I don't have any time for it."

"So you are going! Excellent! We are too!" the Kagome woman spoke up happily. Inuyasha glared at the woman before him. He had to get out before she made the offer to: "Lets all go together." Never mind. He was too late. Inuyasha snarled to himself about annoying women. Behind Kagome, a woman named Ayame put her hand on Kagome's shoulder.

"Uh… are you sure it'll be fun to go with him. No offense, but the guy's really cocky. Sheesh, I would have rather hung out with even Sesshoumaru than him. At least Sesshoumaru's…" Ayame never finished, because both Kagome and her best friend Sango jumped on her and covered her mouth. Nevertheless, the damage had been done. Inuyasha's already narrowed eyes narrowed even more so that they were mere slits. His lips thinned considerably, the upper right hand corner of his lip raised slightly. He let out a low, menacing growl, it vibrated at the back of his throat and made an effect that made his slightly raised upper lip tremble as well. Inuyasha felt the blood rush to his face while he clenched his fists at the side. The growl started very quietly, in fact, it was so quiet that nobody heard it, except for Kouga, who had not yet interfered into the conversation. _Grrr…_ Inuyasha snarled, his fists drew blood from his palms, letting a small stream of bright red ribbon flow off his palm and down his wrists.

"Ayame… Sesshoumaru's his brother." Sango managed to hiss, "And they're not just any brothers, they're very close brothers."

"Repeat that." Inuyasha growled, he lowered his head just enough for his bangs to cover his eyes, "Who the _fuck_ do you think you are mocking my brother to be a peace freak?" Inuyasha raised his head again, and when he did, his eyes that had been burning with flames had frozen over with ice. "I do not know if you know that it was Sesshoumaru who cleared this very city of the crimes that had been happening again and again, nor do I care, but…" Inuyasha grabbed the front of Ayame's kimono, not caring if she was a woman, "_Nobody_ messes with Sesshoumaru, do you understand?" Ayame was too shocked to speak, her mouth was slightly opened and her green eyes widened slightly in fear, "DO. YOU?" Inuyasha snarled, now shaking Ayame slightly.

"Do not touch my woman with your filthy paws." Came another gruff reply. Inuyasha didn't even bother looking at the owner of the gruff voice. He already knew who it was, Kouga. He couldn't even care less about what Kouga could do. He, Inuyasha, was stronger than that mangy wolf youkai, for the blood that coursed in his veins was that of the world's strongest youkai ever. He would have continued to ignore the wolf, if Kouga hadn't placed his hand firmly on Inuyasha's shoulder, the said hanyou would have continued to ignore him. But no, Kouga roughly grabbed Inuyasha's shoulder and was about to pull him away. "Do you not understand the worlds that are coming out of my mouth? Are you that insignificant?" Inuyasha said coldly, as he snapped Kouga's hand off his shoulder with one swift swat of his calloused hands.

"Wanna make something of it?" Kouga asked, his fists now clenching together.

"You dare challenge me?" Inuyasha asked while raising his eyebrow. As he said those, he slowly raised one clawed hand and cracked it. If that's the case, then very well, I shall accept your retarded challenge." With that, Inuyasha crouched on his heels and flew at Kouga with his hands behind him. The claws flexed and contracted, then relaxed when Inuyasha's claws grew to about three inches their normal size. Within minutes, Inuyasha was running full speed, he was running at an impossible speed, which was something he hadn't done in ages. Kouga's eyes enlargened as Inuyasha suddenly appeared before him. He had his claws in front of his face as if to back hand the wolf youkai in one grand sweep. BAM! Inuyasha knocked Kouga backwards, slamming the back of his hand into the youkai's face, then finishing off with one graceful sweep of his hands. His three-inch claws left a huge gash in Kouga's cheek, and the power of Inuyasha's blow sent him flying back thirty feet.

Inuyasha landed fluidly onto the ground and lowered his hand that was still in the position of the follow through of his backhand. His hand that was once peachy and clean, was now stained in bright red blood. He, however was not finished, because his knees were slightly bent so that he was ready to finish Kouga off when suddenly Kagura appeared before him. "Inuyasha, stop!" Golden eyes widened slightly, as Inuyasha just pushed off his feet, and had his hands now poised to kill. The sight of Kagura made him gasp and flip to the side so that he landed quite ungracefully on his feet, the tumbled to the floor in a confused heap. "Just WHAT are you doing? Do not tell me you were planning to kill him!"

"So what? You let that wretch go with calling Sesshoumaru a goddamn wimp?" Inuyasha pushed himself off the floor and stood at his full height, something that Kagome and the rest had never seen him do before. With him standing at his fullest height, Inuyasha looked almost as regal as his brother did. A short, but rough breeze sifted past him, making his silky and silvery hair flow beautifully in the wind. Inuyasha's head was slightly lowered and he glowered at Kouga and the rest behind Kagura with malice and hatred. "I will not lower myself to associate with pompous assholes like them." As he said that, he gave his head a rude jerk towards Kagome, Kouga, Sango, Ayame, and Miroku. "Enough said. Let's go Kagura." With that, Inuyasha calmly walked away from the now flabbergasted group.

"Inuyasha!" Kagura shouted, her red eyes flashing with anger, "The least you can do is apologize!" Inuyasha stopped dead in his tracks. He did not turn around, he just stood there stock-still. The only part of his body that moved were his eyes that rolled to the side to look towards Kagura and the others.

"Do not make me apologize to them. I've already told them nicely that I am not interested in their petty little protests."

Kagura sighed and turned around to apologize. But the sight of a woman with long black hair and deep brown eyes made her gasp and bring her hands to her mouth. "Oh my god…" She whispered, "It can't be…" Inuyasha suddenly whipped around and ran towards Kagura.

"What? What is it?" He asked, looking around for the offending person who shocked Kagura so bad. Kagura did not speak. She simply took one of her trembling hands away from her mouth and pointed straight towards Kagome, or maybe it was behind her. Neither Inuyasha nor Kagome would really tell. "Huh? Who's the person that wants to kill you?" Kagura's fingers clenched slowly until her index finger was pointing straight at the girl in front of her. She was shaking and pointing at the woman. "Eh?" Was Inuyasha's intelligent rely.

"Kikyou," Kagura whispered, "What are you doing here?" Inuyasha stiffened at the offending name, his cold calmness drained out of his body and was replaced with vehement anger. No, that was not the correct way to describe him, it was more like vigorous emotion, which was something that none of the five had never witnessed before. It was his side that only Sesshoumaru and Kagura knew about. _Where?_ He asked himself, _Where is she?_ Inuyasha took one heavy and emotional step forward, his whole body trembling with shock and joy.

"K-kikyou?"

**A/N:** Bwahahahahahahaha! I decided to leave it off on another cliffy… did Inuyasha and Kagura really see Kikyou? What would happen next? Find out in the next chapter: **(Chapter 3) Love is the poison that taints my Heart**. As for all of you, please do not think I ditched **EXECUTIVE ENTREPRENEURS** into the bin, because I have not. I'm just taking a break after ten chapters, but keep your eyes open around Thanksgiving for Chapter 11. I hope you liked chapter two, because I worked really hard on it! Ja ne!

Ideas that are to come for Chapter 3:

Kagura finds out the awful truth that lay outside the city walls.

Naraku begins his despicable plot

Inuyasha has a problem with the new people that have joined his and Kagome's quest.

A clue that leads Inuyasha to the guardian of the Shikon no Tama appears

They meet kaede

Someone close is murdered in Apaxipolis!

NOTICE: THIS IS **NOT** AN INU/KAGU STORY! SO DON'T BE ALARMED AND START FLAMING ME JUST BECAUSE INUYASHA AND KAGURA ARE SO CLOSE IN THIS STORY, BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING BETWEEN THEM. THIS IS STRICTLY AN **INU/KAG**, MIR/SAN, KOU/AYA, NAR/KIK, AND **SESS/KAGU** STORY!

ALSO, JUST BECAUSE I MADE KIKYOU THE VILLAIN OF THE STORY DOESN'T MEAN THAT I HAVE ANYTHING AGAINST HER!


	3. In the eye of the Storm, there is always

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha, end of discussion.

**The Edifice**

**By Alexandra Y. Jones**

**(Chapter 3)**

**In the Eye of the Storm there is always Peace**

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"K-kikyou?" Inuyasha stuttered staring directly into Kagome's eyes. For a while he had been deceived, then when he looked into her eyes, he realized that Kikyou's eyes were brown, not Persian blue. Inuyasha's shocked expression melted off his face faster than it came. "Kagura, you idiot. This woman is not Kikyou, she is Kagome Higurashi, a little pet for this petty group." Kagura's red lips formed an O of surprise.

"But it's not possible. She looks exactly like her!"

"Keh! Exactly, huh? Look at her eyes, can you not see the difference or must I point them out to you?" he had now coolly folded his arm across his chest and taken a step back. Kagura did as Inuyasha suggested and realized that this woman was indeed not Kikyou. "Speaking of which, Kikyou does not possess that horrid stench which you yourself are carrying right now." Inuyasha turned coldly away from the group of five and started to walk away. He knew he had pissed this Kagome woman off, but she really had nothing to do with what he was dealing with at the moment. Kagura stepped away from the pentagonal group and did a small bow. As she did so, she apologized for Inuyasha's heartless actions and quickly followed him. She stopped and turned around to watch the last of what would have been a friendly companion to follow Inuyasha towards the edge of the city. "I cannot believe you degraded yourself so low that you, out of all the people, actually _apologized_ to them."

Obviously, he was frustrated and disappointed, but those feelings were only obvious to himself. Kagura or any other passersby would never know how he was feeling. Inuyasha inwardly grit his teeth and wondered why it had to be him who was in search for Sesshoumaru, Elektromagnetiks, and the weak ningen that was keeping the Shikon no Tama pure. How he wished he could reach his brother just to seek a little bit of answers. But according to the letter, which he was grasping in his claws, Sesshoumaru was far away and hard to reach. _Where could have you been gone to, brother?_ He wondered to himself as he and Kagura wove past the crowds. Out of all the people in the city, only he and Kagura were in the traditional Japanese garments of the feudal era thousands of years ago. In the war, all culture had been burned to dust, the traditional clothing that had been so strong in Tokyo (aka Apaxipolis) had vanished without a trace. All sources of Shinto Buddhism and anything "Japanese" had vanished. English had become the universal language. Inuyasha cast a sidelong glance at Kagura who had not spoken much ever since they left the company of Kagome and her pesky friends. He could tell she was angry with him, it was written all over her face. Humphing to himself, Inuyasha's golden orbs rolled back to their normal position. He stared straight ahead and never looked at Kagura again, relying on his sense of smell to figure out if she was still with him.

They had been walking for a while and the city walls still had not come into view. Kagura was growing tired, but Inuyasha continued to walk. They were only going to rest the moment the sun went down. He took another step forward when the soft sound of Kagura collapsing into the ground was heard. He froze. Already? Although he had stopped walking, he had not turned around to reassure himself that Kagura was okay. "Tired already?" was all he asked. Kagura did not respond, but her panting was a good enough clue that she was drained. He wanted to go on, but, _take care of Kagura for me…_ His words continued to echo in his mind. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed slightly. "Hmph. We will not rest until we are out of the city's main stream." With that Inuyasha continued to walk.

"Inuyasha! How could you be so heartless? You're so much worse than when we first started out on our journey." He stopped head in his tracks and this time turned his head, albeit only slightly. "Is it because of _her_?" Inuyasha continued to stare ahead at the dark night. The stars had been washed out of the skies due to light pollution, and only a few stuck out, such as Polaris. He gazed steadily at it. "Please, I beg of you, I am exhausted."

"We will rest once we are on the outskirts of the city." Inuyasha stated simply and bitingly. Kagura's pencil-thin eyebrow crinkled slightly in frustration and anger.

"You do not care about me, maybe you don't care much about Sesshoumaru, otherwise, you would have made sure that I was okay so his soul would be at peace. Imagine how he is feeling right now, looking down from the heavens to see his younger brother treating his wife like dirt!" _Hn, Sesshoumaru is not dead…_ Inuyasha thought to himself.

"Kagura," He started, using as little words as possible, "Do you have money?" Kagura's body gave a jolt of surprise. "Well?" She reached into the her yellow obi to see if she brought any money with her, but found that she had not. "I do not have money, but if you do, then we will rest. However, neither of us do. Thus we must go on." Inuyasha tore his gaze away from Polaris. It was starting to give him memories of Kikyou again. _Curse that Kagome woman, just when she almost left my mind…_ he thought bitterly to himself. Inuyasha surfaced from his thoughts and continued to walk so much without a word. Kagura should have gotten the message. They had no money to stay in a hotel or a lodging house; they had to move on. He heard Kagura groan in frustration for not bringing any money, then later he heard her swear. That one swear word made a smile grace the handsome face of Inuyasha.

It gave him memories, happy memories. Kagura had met Sesshoumaru long before world war one, long before the Americans came and offered Japan their boundless technology. It reminded him of the time when the three of them had gone on a trip and they ran out of money. They needed money to buy at least a bowl of noodles. Unfortunately they had lost their parents and had not even a penny to get themselves even half a bowl. Kagura had sworn once and bawled until Sesshoumaru or Inuyasha had to pound the hell out the owner until he gave up a bowl. Then the three of them shared it together. Inuyasha sighed to himself, only in his head of course. Those had been the happy days, and they were now gone, lost because of his hanyouness, lost because of war, lost because _he_, Inuyasha, had been banished from the world.

"Inuyasha?" He continued to walk, and ignored what Kagura had said, "What do you supposed Sesshoumaru is doing right now?"

"Watching us." Was his simple reply; he knew that if Kagura was asking him questions like that it meant only one thing: she was too exhausted to go on. He stopped so suddenly, that Kagura ran into his back and landed on her buttocks with a loud thud. Ignoring her complaints and excessive cussing, Inuyasha crouched down on the floor and cradled his arm behind him. And when Kagura had not climbed on his back, he said simply, "You _are_ tired, are you not?" Kagura stopped swearing and stared at Inuyasha, who was still crouched on the ground. When she did not climb onto his back, he calmly stood back up. "Very well, you must still be fit enough to walk on your own." With that said, Inuyasha started to walk away when Kagura stopped him with a WAIT! Inuyasha stopped again and almost as if he could read her mind, crouched down on the ground in the same position as before. Kagura swiftly climbed onto his back before he pushed his body off the ground in one monumental leap. The air whistled through his hair making his white manes blow back and swirl in the winds. Before Kagura knew it, Inuyasha was racing through the city, and everything had become a blur. Her eyes began to grow heavy, she did not know what time it was, and she did not care, the last image that floated before her vision was that of her beloved Sesshoumaru, he stood there in the clothes that he wore before he modernized himself. It was a white and red haori and white hakamas along with the armor and his pelt. His golden eyes, similar to that of Inuyasha, gleamed gently at her as his delicate lips curled up into a graceful smile. That smile made her heart melt no matter how she felt.

Inuyasha felt Kagura's body grow limp, she had fallen asleep. He also sensed that she was no longer tense with grief or any other emotion other than that of happiness. At least Sesshoumaru had loved her until the very end, at least he still cherished her enough to rid himself from everyone's memories just to keep her out of danger. Although those were Sesshoumaru's intentions, Inuyasha knew that to protect Kagura was to show her the truth. His thoughts drifted from Sesshoumaru and Kagura to Kikyou. He wondered why she had left him, they were so happy together, so complete! It had gone on for over six years, and the last night they were together, made him so sure that they would continue loving each other, kissing each other the way they had always been doing. Then the next day, everything came crashing down around him. Kikyou had suddenly become so cold and left him in the middle of the streets, surrounded by people, surrounded by so much company, yet none of them knew him or cared about him. He sank into the floor, and tried to pick up the remains of his shattered heart, but he could never pick them up. No matter how fast or how efficiently he gathered the pieces, they seemed to multiply, double, and grow. Inuyasha lowered his gaze, as hot tears threatened to spill out of his now saddened eyes. _A man never cries._ Inuyasha stopped and looked up at the skies, up at polaris. It shone so brightly that it could not have been a simple star in the sky.

Polaris seemed to explode into millions of pieces, and form an outline of a person. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes. The form slowly began to solidify until a familiar scent caught his nose. He knew the scent… barely. The scent had been faded from age and the past, it was the scent of his father, Inutaisho. _Inuyasha, have you forgotten what I have taught you?_ "F-f-father?" Inuyasha stuttered, his eyes wide with disbelief. He lowered Kagura to the floor and took his fire rat haori off. He rolled it up and placed it under Kagura's head as a pillow. _Yes. It is I. Though I have perished from this world long ago, when you were nothing more than a mere pup, I have been watching over you._ Suddenly, Inuyasha felt resentful. His father had been watching him for all these years and had never even thought to come down to help him! Inuyasha looked down at the ground and grit his teeth. "Grrr…" his fists shook from the tension of clenching them. "You knew how they were treating me, and yet you did nothing to help me."

_Do not let your last get the better of you, put it behind you. You cannot go back and correct what has already been done…_ "You think I don't fucking know that?" Inuyasha barked, now relaxing his fists and glaring up at the sky. "I am as old as you are now, father. You knew that as a hanyou I would suffer and you ceased to do anything about it. You should have killed me when you had the chance! It would have saved mother from the wretched prejudiced fools!" Blood slowly oozed out of Inuyasha's palms where his claws dug into his skin, letting a small steady stream of blood squeeze out and dribble onto the floor. _Do not be mistaken my son, you know I loved your mother…_ "THEN WHY DID YOU LEAVE HER TO SUFFER?" Inuyasha screamed up at the sky. The tears that had threatened to fall, dried and his sorrow was replaced with anger. "WHY?" _You must realize, Inuyasha, that the world is never a fair place. You've admitted it yourself. Yes, I had been a horrible father for not being there for you when your mother left you to join me. This is the reason why I have begged the guardians of the souls to let me see you so I can help you at least a little bit._ Inuyasha's brow wrinkled in confusion, as Inutaisho lifted his hands. He was holding onto a small white orb that glowed brilliantly. It began to grow bigger and flatter until it became a round, flat disk floating just in between his father's hands. The glow of the disk faded slowly until it revealed a mirror. _Look into this mirror, and it will help you find Tetsusaiga, the sword that is much needed to protect the guardian of the Shikon no Tama._

As fast as his anger came, it vanished. Of course, his father would never do such a thing to him… ever. His father was noble and loved him as much as he loved his older brother. But that was not enough to wipe the coldness and the bitterness out of Inuyasha's heart. No matter how hard he tried, it would never be lifted from his body. This, of course, Inutaisho knew, and that saddened him as much as Inuyasha was saddened. Inuyasha could read it in his eyes. Very slowly, Inutaisho floated towards earth until he was floating several inches off the floor. The great inuyoukai tilted the mirror slightly until Inuyasha was looking at it. _Now, my son, concentrate on your left eye. In there, the tetsusaiga lies dormant, ready to be used._ He looked. His left eye looked strange. It was glowing with black light… well not really, but in the mirror the golden color was slightly dulled by something that was darker. There was SOMETHING in his left eye that he could not fathom. And of course, all sense of emotions had long since drained his body, so that meant that everything he gelt was inside him. The only emotion he could release was his anger. "What is it?" He asked simply. _That, Inuyasha, is the black pearl, where the Tetsusaiga lies… ready to be plucked and put back to use, by its master, it has chosen… you. _Inuyasha stood there staring up at his father, his mouth slightly opened in shock.

"And so you expect me to pluck my eyeball out and use the sword, huh?" Inuyasha turned his back to his father. "Leave me. I refuse to do that." Inutaisho looked increasingly sad. _My son, I do not have much time with you. But eventually, someone will come and pluck the black pearl from your eye. It is inevitable… be careful my son…_ Inuyasha raised his hand to grab Inutaisho's arm, but soon found that his father was translucent. _I am sorry I left you and your mother so soon…_ "Father!" Inuyasha shouted, now running after Inutaisho. Inutaisho had lifted off the ground and was soon floating away. Before the hanyou knew it, his father had faded away completely. The only thing left of him was his soft whisper that echoed throughout the empty buildings, _Gomen-nai, Inuyasha…_ He dropped to his knees. All sense of bitterness had left his body and all that was left was sadness. "Don't leave me." He whispered the last words. The solemn words ricocheted off the ragged rubble and back at him as his arm slowly lowered itself, "Father…" of course. It was not his father's fault that he was like this. It was Tatemaru's fault, but he had died long ago. "Tatemaru… you bastard…" Inuyasha hissed, clenching teeth while he balled his hands into firm fists. "I hope you live a miserable life in hell."

Kagura's ruby-red eyes opened slowly, who was Inuyasha talking to? She slowly sat up, and realized that there was no one. Inuyasha was sitting across from her, Indian-style. He had his hands tucked into the sleeves of his fire rat haori with his eyes closed. He was sleeping. Inuyasha had obviously made a fire in the middle, but now, all that was left were the soft glowing ambers. She sighed. "How long will it take for us to get out into this world that has plunged back into the past?"

"Three days." Kagura jumped and turned around, with her fan posed. She let her guard down when she found herself face-to-face with Kagome, the woman that resembled Kikyou so.

"Piss off Ningen." Kagome and Kagura shifted their attention from each other to Inuyasha, who still had his eyes closed. "Didn't you hear what I said, or do I have to attack for you to get it?" The eyelids of the hanyou opened slowly, revealing golden eyes that sparkled in the dull light from the campfire. Those golden eyes were now pointed straight at Kagome, who took a small step back. "What are you deaf? Piss off!" Before she could do anything else, Kagura found Inuyasha rushing at Kagome with his claws posed.

"Inuyasha! Don't be so reckless!" She shouted as she opened her fan. She gave her fan one swift tug and blew Inuyasha off course. The said hanyou went flying up in the air and hit the floor with a loud thump. Luckily, it was not hard enough to kill him. "Hello, Kagome-chan. I believe we've met last time in the city square."

"Yes we have. I did not expect to meet you here. You see, place is considered a meeting spot for us when we go out of Apaxipolis." Kagome cast a sideways glance at Inuyasha, who had picked himself up and was now dusting himself. This Kagome woman tried to smile at Inuyasha, but she only succeeded in receiving a growl from the hanyou. Kagura also looked at Inuyasha. He looked furious, but he turned and disappeared into the night. "Wait! Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out. Kagura cast the girl another glance. Inuyasha stopped. He stared off into the darkness that resided past the dull campfire. He did not turn around, but simply shifted his glance from the darkness in front of him to the small lightness where Kagome and Kagura stood. "Where are you going?"

"That's none of your business." With that, Inuyasha walked away.

"You're ditching us aren't you?"

"Baka. I made a promise with Sesshoumaru. I've become Kagura's _bodyguard_." Inuyasha spat those last words out. "Remember, I'm that flea-bitten hanyou whom everyone spat on since day one, and even if people are kinder today, deep down inside, I will always be the disgusting hanyou the ningens feared and the youkais laughed at." With that, he vanished into the night. Kagome stood there clutching her hands to her chest and Kagura was silent. What did Inuyasha just say? Bodyguard? But he was her brother in law, how could a brother in law become a bodyguard? But none of them noticed a pair of large yellow eyes that were staring at them hidden in the depths of the ruins.

"At last Inuyasha-sama, I have found you…" The strange creature panted heavily, while he leaned on his staff. The staff had two heads on it, one was an old man and another was a young woman. Their hair, black and white, swirled together around the staff. _Why Sesshoumaru-sama?_ He wondered to himself, _why do you cherish this hanyou so? He's so depressing, worse than No man._ The creature slipped back into the darkness and followed Inuyasha's path. _Why is it me who has to help Inuyasha find this tetsusaiga?_ The creature wondered to himself, "Hai… Sesshoumaru-sama entrusted me to the nintoujou… it is the key that opens the black pearl." The creature sighed and mumbled a bit of nonsense to himself. When he looked up, he realized Inuyasha had vanished. "Nooooooo! Where'd he go?" The small creature vanished into the night.

Inuyasha walked alone in the dark, jagged streets. They were soon to be outside the depressing city. No matter how much he was accepted in Apaxipolis, he could not forget the past, the place where he lived as a child and as a teen and he missed it. Apparently, this part of Apaxipolis was abandoned. There were no children running down the streets any more, and all that was left were misplaced cobblestones and cracked asphalt. The street lamps that lined the road were now rusted and slightly broken, while some lay tilted and some fallen completely. The trees that used to be so neat and orderly had grown out of control and broke through the concrete creating space for new plants to grow. The concrete beneath Inuyasha's feet emitted heat no more. Apaxipolis' roads were all heated to prevent ice when the snow fell. But the stones here, they heated no more and the buildings had been eroded as the times passed by wind, rain, and snow. He stopped and posed with his claws… "SANKON TESSOU!" His yellow light flashed out from his claws and hit a tree. The wood flew in the air for one, graceful moment until they landed on the floor. The wood made loud clunking noises as they hit the ground near Inuyasha's feet.

However, it did not matter. There was no one around and no one cared. The place was nothing more than a former city choked and taken over by weeds and plants. _Within years, this place will return to its forest-y form, the form that has vanished so long ago._ Inuyasha thought to himself. "Oy, hanyou…" Inuyasha paused, his hands inches away from picking up the last bit of wood needed for the fire. "I didn't know that cowards like you actually dared to venture out to places like this. You amaze me." Inuyasha turned around and gave the intruder his fullest attention. "Ooh… you're pretty brave coming at me like that!" Inuyasha glared at the youkai in front of him, "and glaring at me too."

"What do you want?"

"Get off my lands." Deep orange eyes narrowed maliciously, "Hanyou inuyoukai."

"Your lands?" Inuyasha asked, "This is still property to Apaxipolis."

"It is abandoned, fool."

"But the walls still stand." Inuyasha's eyes narrowed, "You're on your way to Apaxipolis are you? Quite a pity… if you hate hanyous so, then in Apaxipolis, your hatred towards us will vanish and you will never be able to do anything about it."

"I do not wish to…"

"Pity… my brother worked so hard to bring it up from the ashes of World War Seventy… and after ruling for so long, he's committed suicide." Inuyasha looked straight into the woman's eye, "A great calamity hovers around Apaxipolis, do not persue it any longer, or it shall ruin you as if has ruined me."

"Your brother… you mean Sesshoumaru?"

"Why? Have you got business to take care with him? Well, if that's the case, fuck it. He's gone, he's gone up to the heavens… he has joined my father, his mother, and my mother." The piercing gold eyes stared straight at the widened orange eyes, "Your life is better off outside of Apaxipolis. You belong in Kyoto…"

"You refuse to get out of my way, huh? Then fine!" The woman flew at Inuyasha with incredible speed, and before he could do anything else, tore her claws into his left eye. "Such weakling!" The woman tore her claws out of his eye and withdrew something that was black and shone brilliantly. "What is this?" She wondered in horror.

"Never take your eyes off me..." Inuyasha spat coldly. Before the woman knew it, Inuyasha had driven his whole hand into her stomach, forcing her to drop the small black object, "Karan."

"How did you…?"

"What, did you think I was an idiot? I know about you, you're from the hyo-neko clan that has waged war against father for centuries. I've heard of stories that Sesshoumaru told me about the likes of you. Cowardly youkais that love to retreat, hm? Fools." He tore his hand out of Karan's stomach. The blood spewed out from her wound, following the momentum of Inuyasha pulling his hand out. His eyes were merciless and suddenly so calm and cold, "Shinae." Using the same hand, Inuyasha slashed at Karan's chest diagonally, and twirled around in the air, kicking her in the face with his foot. Karan spun wildly in the air and landed on the floor in a heap. She groaned in pain and tried to stand, but Inuyasha planted his foot firmly onto her neck. "This city is now cursed, leave before you ruin your life!" The black pearl, in the meantime lay forgotten on the ground, and rolled away from the two until it stopped at two green feet.

"At last I have found you, Inuyasha-sama." Came a grave, throaty voice. "I have heard of Sesshoumaru-sama's death and came as quickly as I possibly could."

"Piss off. I'm busy." Inuyasha snapped.

"I will be a big help! I can find the resting place of the tetsusaiga!"

"Fool. I know where it is. It lies at your feet."

"W-what?" _Oh he sounds so much like an angrier version of Sesshoumaru-sama…_ "This is it?"

"Yes. That is it. Now leave."

"Oh… but it is nothing but a tiny ball." The creature… it was definitely in a class much lower than Sesshoumaru and his father's. He was completely green and resembled that of an overgrown toad. Yet the small pointed black hat on his head and his maroon and sand colored kimono proved that he was a leader of his own kind. In his hand, he carried a two-headed staff, and wore no feet. Finally, his height was no larger than past Inuyasha's knees. Inuyasha turned his attention back to Karan, who was now smirking, but before she could do anything else, Inuyasha removed his foot from her neck, and kicked her up with his feet. She spun horizontally in the air and before she could hit the ground, he landed a firm punch in her chest, sending her back twenty feet.

"It is not a tiny ball. It is the black pearl. The place where father restored the tetsusaiga, I do not want it." Inuyasha bent over and picked up the pearl to place it back into his left eye. Before he could do anything else, the black pearl flashed and filled the area up with black light. Then it was gone. In the place where Inuyasha was holding onto the black pearl was a sheathed katana that glowed black. Before he could do anything else, a black mist lifted off the katana and went back into his left eye. "What is your name?" Inuyasha asked the toady-youkai before him.

"J-j-jaken… Inuyasha-sama."

"There is no use for you now. Go back to my brother." Seeing that he had nothing more to say, Inuyasha turned and left Jaken in the middle of the rubble.

"B-but…"

"Leave. You will be nothing but a nuisance to me. Tell Sesshoumaru that for me." Inuyasha gathered the rest of his firewood and left Jaken standing there, still stuttering. A small breeze sifted past the two, sending Inuyasha's whitish-silver hair to whip around casually until it settled back to its previous position. Inuyasha then vanished into an on-coming fog. The others had already gathered around the fire, when Inuyasha returned… so much for getting away from them. Sighing inwardly to himself, Inuyasha came and deposited some of the wood into the dying fire. The rest he tossed onto the ground and then sat as far from the group as he possibly could.

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"Kikyou, my dear. Do not fret. We shall find Kagura soon." Naraku whispered, his voice deep and velvety. Naraku clenched his fist and snatched a flimsy piece of paper that lay innocently on the coffee table. His blood-red eyes scanned the contents for a second before they narrowed. His whole face was twisted and contorted in anger, and his whole body was visibly shaking; he could not contain himself. On the page, someone's elegant handwriting looped and curved forming the words, "You are suspected." Growling to himself, Naraku cumpled the paper into a ball and tossed it into the flame. _Damn. Someone's suspecting me._ He thought to himself. The very thought made him grab the coffee table and hurtle it across the room. He sent Kanna and Hakudoushi to find Sesshoumaru's wife, but they returned empty-handed. They could not even find his children.

Upon seeing her lover throw the coffee table, Kikyou quickly stood up, and hugged him around the waist. She stood there holding him from the back and placed her beautiful face against his back. "Do not fret, Naraku, we can finish them, you'll ruin your handsome face." Naraku kept his teeth clenched. "Forget it all… just for tonight…" Once she felt his body relax, she released him and moved in front of him. "Do it for me." With that, she stood up and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. "If you love me so, forget this letter Inuyasha sent." Naraku's body tensed again.

"This letter was written by that hanyou fool? Why did you not tell me earlier, and how did you know." Kikyou humphed and shifted her gaze to the side,

"I thought it wouldn't matter too much."

"You thought it wouldn't matter too much?" Naraku hissed, anger boiling inside him once again.

"First," Kikyou said quietly as she placed a seductive finger over his lips, "I shall answer your first question. I did not tell you because that hanyou does not care about the fate of Apaxipolis. It is only his brother that cares so much about this _precious_ city. To answer your second question, you do recall that I have been with Inuyasha for six years. So naturally, I would recognize his handwriting, mostly because he seems to prefer the traditional version of letter-writing. Do not be a baka, Naraku…" Kikyou whispered, she placed a palm on Naraku's chest and leaned against him. " I'll always love you, and only you Naraku." She closed her eyes leisurely, enjoying the warmth of her lover and the steady rhythemic beating of his heart. Naraku smiled gently, and wrapped his arms around Kikyou. He loved her too much to lay even a finger on her, even if she betrayed him, he would never strike her. "So," she murmured sleepily, "What shall we do about Kagura's sudden disappearance?"

"We should search for her. She took her magical fan with her along with the all-seeing mirror. Even if Inuyasha does not care about this city's fate, she does. That magic fan…" Naraku's brow crinkled angrily, "That fan… she controls the winds with it. I wish to kill Kagura, and once she is out of the picture, so will her weak children. As for Inuyasha, we shall leave him to his demises." Naraku's crinkled brow smoothed as he gazed past Kikyou's head and smirked. _Yes, I shall be playing a very interesting game._ He thought to himself. His gaze shifted down to Kikyou who had fallen asleep in his arms. His evil smirk transformed into a completely different smile, an angelic smile that was rather unfitting with his sinister personality. His savior, his fallen angel… Naraku let the scent of Kikyou fill his lungs… so alluring, so wonderful.

As gently as he possibly could, Naraku lifted Kikyou and gathered her into his arms then carried her up to their bedroom. There, he placed her on her bed and tucked her into the warm blankets. He changed his clothes and joined her, pulling her close and soon falling into a deep, pleasant sleep. Another thing he loved about Kikyou was the way she calmed his senses when he felt most hysterical. "Kikyou… I love you…" He whispered and was fast asleep.

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The fire crackled and the wood snapped as the fire continued to burn, casting eerie shadows on the walls of the wrecked city. Inuyasha sat in one corner, and much to his distaste, found himself sitting next to Kagome. Across his lap lay the tetsusaiga, which had come out of the black pearl. Speaking of which, the black pearl was placed back into Inuyasha's eye and the fire was calm. This neko Inuyasha had dealt with was gone, probably towards Apaxipolis where her life was to be destroyed by the Band of Discordants. "Don't you think we should stop him?" Kagome spoke up, but she was silenced with a sharp look from Inuyasha. His eyes were always iced-over with apathy and bitterness, and hidden deep within was a world she had never seen. She recalled the events of when she first met Inuyasha. It was a rather embarrassing meeting, but the moment she saw him, she fell in love with him.

She along with her friends had approached him. He seemed perturbed about something, because he was rushing away from everyone. She had called out to him, and when he heard her voice, he turned around immediately. Their eyes connected and locked, this happened for a while before he whispered in disbelief, "Kikyou?" Before she knew it, he grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. Of course she had told him she was not Kikyou, but Kagome, and when he realized she was not this Kikyou woman, he tossed her onto the floor, and didn't even apologize to her. Kouga stepped up to him and yelled at him, but Inuyasha turned and left, calling her an imposter. Her friends were visibly upset, but she stood up and asked him to join her group, but he refused.

So she simply told him, "If you ever feel lonely, don't hesitate to come and talk about it with us." He was already far away from her, but she knew he heard her because he turned his head slightly to the side and muttered, "feh" before he vanished into the crowd. She, of course, just stood there. There was something in his eyes that made her believe him. He had shut himself away from the world and refused to come back, she could almost read his mind, though her friends could not. This was what lured Kagome to Inuyasha. When the disgruntled hanyou was well out of earshot, she had whispered, "I love you" and vowed that she would stay by his side no matter how much he tried to push her away.

Now she was sitting next to him, with the same result. Inuyasha also looked down at Kagome, but unlike her, he wore a look of distain, almost as if he were looking down at her. _Foolish ningen…_ he thought bitterly to himself, _you can never crack the walls around me, I won't let you._ "Go away." He said softly. Kagome looked up at him, her eyes brimming with sorrow. He winced inwardly; her tears were on the verge of falling. "Don't spill your tears here. You were the one that chose to sit next to me, so grin and bear it." His gaze traveled away from the now sniffing girl to the Tetsusaiga in his hands. He slowly twirled the sword his left hand. Then, using his thumb, he pushed the sword out a little. A soft click echoed throughout the camp and the wasted avenue. This soft click gained the attention of Kouga, Kagura, and Kagome (since she was sitting right next to him). _This was the sword that father left in my hand… this was the sword that was able to mow down a hundred youkai in one swing…_ His right hand gripped the hilt of the katana, and with one mighty tug, the sword was plucked from its scabbard. _This so-called great sword is nothing more than junk._ Inuyasha stared at the rusted blade before him. "Humph." That was the only word that escaped Inuyasha's throat.

He looked up at the dark sky, now filled with stars since there were no city lights. _Father… Sesshoumaru… what the hell can I do with this piece of junk?_ Inuyasha twirled the sword slowly in his hand until the blade was facing Kagome's neck. She let out a small squeak, which made Inuyasha's golden orbs shift slightly in her direction. "Hmph." Then as quick as lightening, he twirled the katana in one hand in the opposite direction and stopped abruptly when the blade faced the earth. "This katana is nothing more than junk." He said coolly and slammed the sword into a rock. He stood up and started to leave when Kagura let out a muffled cry.

When hearing her voice, Inuyasha whirled around, Kagura was clutching her hand to her chest, but could not hide the scorch marks that marred her smooth, complexion. "The tetsusaiga… it shocked me." Inuyasha turned his fullest attention to the katana, and ignored Kagura. He walked up to it and grabbed the hilt again and pulled it out of the stone. He examined it for a moment before stooping down to pick up the sheath and placing the sword back in its place. Much to everyone's surprise, he tied the tetsusaiga securely to his hip and sat back down.

"Thought you didn't want it, mutt."

"I've changed my mind. Chichiue's katana may come to use some day." Kagome stared at Inuyasha, watching his eyes. Inuyasha turned and glared at her, but there was something in his eyes that stuck Kagome. Those golden eyes, though hardened with hate, coldness, and bitter feelings had something deep inside. Kagome smiled inwardly to herself, now she knew Inuyasha. _In the eye of the storm, there is always peace..._ She whispered to herself so low that it was almost like a thought. She snuck another look at Inuyasha and was relieved that he had not heard her. _You are soft inside… you're no different than I am._

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**A/N:** That was a bit… ano… how should I say it? Fluffy? I think you've noticed that there aren't very many humorous scenes. Actually, there weren't any humorous scenes at all. Which means that this story is going to be a very serious one, quite different from my usual story that has some sort of humor to it from time to time.

And sorry for not updating quickly, my fans…

Something you should know:

You're all probably tearing your hair out and screaming, "BUT YOU SAID THIS WAS GOING TO BE A KAG/INU STORY!" Well, before you take out your sutras and attack me with them, I'd like to take the time to tell you that this is a kag/inu story, so bugger off. Kagome and Inuyasha are going to be lovers later… but not now, because making them fall in love all of a sudden is unrealistic, Inuyasha needs time to cool off from his break up with Kikyou, so yeah… deal with it.


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